Defiance of the Wraith
by The Light's Refrain
Summary: ONESHOT The concept of Life and Death has never been simple. Can the Melodious Nocturne save a soul before it falls into complete darkness? Or could it become lost to an even more dire fate? ZexionDemyx friendship


_Hiya, Light's Refrain here. Here's a little something that came to me outta nowhere after reading some spook books and listening to Linkin Park's Reanimation CD version of "Crawling" for an hour. This story focuses on Demyx and Zexion. For you really nutty yaoi fans out here, you may take this as light yaoi, but it's really meant as a friendship fic, so don't expect any kissing or anything, because I don't do that. _

_I really had this done a couple of weeks ago, but I wasn't sure whether I wanted to post it as more than one chapter. But I decided I didn't want to fool with updating this four times, so I just post this up as a oneshot. _

_Disclaimer: …Yeah, I own KH. Just like I own Disneyland and a personal cottage on the moon with buncha aliens as my neighbors. Nope, don't own KH. _

_Now to, let this story begin itself…_

A soft _vrum_ resonated in the all-too-still halls of Castle Oblivion. Steps lightly kissing the chilled floor seemed like explosions of sound in the frozen silence. There was no reply to these loud little noises; no Heartless skittering in to investigate, no clamber in the upper or lower floors, no other _vrum_s sounding off to check out this lone trespasser. There were only the footsteps, stirring up a thin layer of dust as they reluctantly moved themselves forward, in this hollow shell of a bastion with walls white as winter, white as death.

This isolated intruder wore a black cloak, the upward hood hiding the face from sight. The figure soon lowered his hood, however, revealing a boy in his late teenage years, with dirty blonde, mullet-styled hair and rich emerald eyes. It was none other than the ninth of the Organization; The Melodious Nocturne, Demyx, and he didn't seemed too thrilled to be here in this neglected palace.

Demyx figured that he was the first one that had come here ever since the incident three months ago. Ever since Marluxia's attempted rebellion against the Organization left five of its members dead. Even though the castle was still useable, everyone who survived the account, even those who were hardly involved at all, had developed distaste for the place. Perhaps developed fear of the place was more accurate, but no one would ever admit that.

Well, anyone besides Demyx anyway. Oh, he was more than willing to admit it; this place scared him now. Just the thought that five of his former colleagues had perished here was enough for him to feel uncomfortable here. Sure, Vexen was a big grouch, and Laexaus kinda scared him, and Marluxia was just...Marluxia, but that didn't make their deaths any less terrifying.

And then there were the people he liked. Larxene had been the third to last to fall, thanks to the Keyblader. Yeah, she was plenty scary even when she wasn't mad, and when she picked on him she tended to be downright mean, but he'd always crushed on her anyway. Stupid, he knew, especially when she was the object of interest of someone like Axel, but he couldn't help it...

And then there was Zexion.

The Cloaked Schemer, Zexion, or "Zex" or "Zexy", as he usually called him, much to the other's chagrin, had been the first he had befriended at the Organization...sort of. Actually, at first their "friendship" mostly consisted of the mulleted blond following the calm purple-haired teen around, blabbering on about whatever while the other ignored him, or tried to, anyway. Sometimes Zexion would let him hang out at the laboratory with him, telling him that if he touched anything he would probably get turned into a girl or some other equally unpleasant state of being. That was more than enough to keep the water-wielder far, far away from the chemicals...usually.

After a while, Zexion spent less time ignoring him and more time actually talking to him. Not that Zexion was a quiet person; it's just that the Cloaked Schemer hadn't been talking to _him_ that much. But then he would occasionally reply to whatever Demyx was talking about, whether it was out of interest or an attempt to the get the Melodious Nocturne to shut up. Other times he would suddenly go off into philosophical ramblings for no reason. Sure, he didn't get much of what the purple-haired boy was saying, but it was interesting nonetheless, and Zexion seemed to enjoy having an audience for it.

While they weren't exactly buddy-buddy, they did cover each other's backs. Zexion would go rescue Demyx whenever he had a berserk Saix on his tail, while Demyx would let Zexion know when it was the best time to get revenge on Axel for putting that neon green dye in Zexion's shampoo bottle. Truthfully, it was usually Zexion saving Demyx's hide, but that didn't mean that the purple teen didn't appreciate those times when it was the other way around, even if he never admitted it. At least, Demyx liked to think it that way.

They often hanged out as well. Zexion would give Demyx some metal puzzles to figure out, and he would watch in amusement as the Melodious Nocturne threw fits trying to undo them. The purple-eyed teen would read _Les Miserables_ as Demyx played some of his calmer tunes on his giant sitar or slept soundly on the couch nearby. That didn't mean that Zexion wouldn't throw one of his spare books at the blond if he was getting a little too riled up playing his sitar or he was snoring a little too loud, though. Demyx had even, after much persistence, gotten Zexion hooked on comic books. Though it made Zexion fall behind on his other, more sophisticated readings, the Cloaked Schemer wasn't sure whether to be mad at Demyx or not.

Why had he always admired Zexion so much? That was easy. Zexion was the coolest, most collected person he had ever met. Nothing could faze him. He could be stuck in a raging inferno and still be calm enough to escape with nary a singe (though the fact that he often had to deal with Axel's pyromaniac tendencies helped) And he was so much smarter than anyone else Demyx had ever known. Zexion wasn't called The Cloaked Schemer for nothing. His coolly calculated plans could outsmart even the slickest foes. In short, he was everything Demyx wasn't, everything Demyx wanted to be.

But Demyx hadn't come back to say goodbye to Zexion, though he considered doing that while he was here. No, he had been sent here against his will, to clean Castle Oblivion, of all things. Not that anyone planned to move in anytime soon. He had no idea how the Superior's stolen TV got into his room, he swore. It had to be Axel, he was sure of it. Unfortunately the Superior didn't see things this way, and, since Demyx had already swept The Castle That Never Was from top to bottom just a couple days ago, he had been sent to clean here instead.

So, here he was, stuck in Castle Oblivion, with only a rag and overbearing silence to keep him company. And there were thirteen floors of this...he was currently on floor five. Why he decided to start on floor five, and not the bottom or the top, he didn't know. It just seemed right.

…And he supposed that he didn't have to be too quiet, either. After all, who would be watching him in this colorless tomb…?

A huge, unusually-shaped cocoon of light appeared in his grasp, the glow soon slipping away to reveal a blue-and-white sitar that was just as tall as he was. Strumming a simple chord, a legion of water forms, either taking on the appearance of Demyx himself or of large musical notes, rose up from the floor.

"Well, might as well have some fun," Demyx said to himself. "DANCE, water, DANCE!"

The Melodious Nocturne let loose with some high-octane power rock music that blasted away the predatory silence. The water clones and notes swerved and twisted to the song's whims, splashing against the walls and throwing themselves against the ceiling to wash away any grime that had built up over the past few months. New forms popped up whenever others had done their duty. Soon the floor was submerged under a thin layer of liquid, the remains of the forms that had sacrificed themselves in the name of cleanliness.

And Demyx? He couldn't have been having more fun. The emerald-eyed teen glided across the water's surface, like a boundless breeze, his fingers stroking out the melody like it would be the very last song he would ever play.

But this grew tiring after a while for the Melodious Nocturne, so left the sitar to play on its own accord. Snapping his fingers, he summoned one his minion Nobodies, a Dancer. This underling had only a vague human shape, a feminine one, with cream and pink coloring. The scarf tied around its upper head and the "pants" it wore were of a rose hue, while the rest of its gangly body, save for brown cross across the center, was of a pale tan coloring.

And right then it made the perfect dance partner.

Demyx slowly bowed to the Dancer, looking up to it with a playful expression. Then he took it into his arms and floated across the floor with it, leaving flowing ripples across the surface of the water. He twirled it, he lifted it up into the air, he tossed it up and caught it in a dramatic fashion, treating the dancer as if it was an actual person. They went through a variety of dances as they drifted across the floor; slow dances, tangos, discos, the moonwalk. With some of the larger dances, such as the electric slide, he puppeted the water forms to join as well, so they were one synchronized, tranced force. The blue-and-white sitar followed obediently behind its master, changing tunes as Demyx willed it to.

He and the Dancer were in the middle of the cha-cha when Demyx heard the voice.

"Demyx, what are you doing?"

The Melodious Nocturne was so entrenched in his euphoric high that he didn't fully realize who had spoken.

"Oh, hey! Dude, you gotta come down here! I'm having an awesome time with this Dancer here! I can summon one for you too, you know. C'mon, you know you wanna try it, Ze-"

And THEN it hit him.

The sitar struck a sour note and abruptly burst into light, leaving not a trace of itself behind, the water forms promptly dissolved, and the Dancer skated off when its partner suddenly froze in place and lost all interest in dancing.

Then slowly, stiffly, Demyx turned his head around to the source of the voice.

At the top of the entrance steps to the sixth floor, just above all the excess water produced by the blond's antics, was a purple-haired boy in his late teens dressed in a black cloak, just as Demyx was. His arms crossed, his purple eyes scanned the waterlogged scene before him, finally resting themselves on the emerald eyed-blond before him.

Demyx choked on his words a good deal before he could force them out of his throat.

"Z-Zex!"

The supposedly deceased Cloaked Schemer glowered down on the Melodious Nocturne for what seemed like an unending moment.

How could he still be here? He was killed! Axel said so himself, and not even Axel would joke around about something like that, at least, Demyx didn't think he would…and besides, three months was an awfully long time for a prank…

"Uh...h-hey Zexy," Demyx greeted nervously, carefully approaching the teen with the lopsided purple hair. "So…uh…howya being? Must be pretty boring in here…"

Zexion shrugged, lowering his feet down to one of the submerged steps below.

"Meh, it is not too bad."

Demyx would've replied, but he could help but notice the effect of the Cloaked Schemer's feet on the water. Or rather, the lack of effect. The liquid didn't so much as shiver as the black boot entered it and settled itself on the step. Not only that, but his cloak didn't get the least bit wet, not even at the bottom trim. In fact, now that he looked more closely, none of the water even touched Zexion…

…it went _through_ him instead.

_My god he's a-_

"Dude, Zex, you're…"

"I am what?" asked Zexion calmly.

"You're…why are you still here?" Demyx asked, looking up at him with a frightened look in his emerald-hued eyes

"Why would I not be here?" Zexion questioned, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Well…it's just…you're kinda supposed to be…" Demyx sputtered, tumbling over his tied tongue.

" I do not have time for this, Demyx," The Cloaked Schemer interrupted, turning around and beginning to ascend the stairs to the nest floor. "I have got work to do. And, from the looks of this place, so do you."

"Zex, don't you know? You're DEAD!" the Melodious Nocturne suddenly spat up.

The teenage phantom halted, then looked back at the mulleted blond with a skeptical, insulted look in his left purple eye, the one not covered by his hair.

"…You have got into Vexen's chemicals again, haven't you?" Zexion accused in a bored manner. "How many times do I have to tell you…"

"Zex, I'm serious!" exclaimed the Melodious Nocturne, hurriedly pursuing the Cloaked Schemer up the stairs. He couldn't help but feel a chill as he came closer to the Cloaked Schemer's presence. "Don't you remember? You got killed here three months ago, along with Vexen, and Laexaus, and Lar…"

The purple-haired teen was quiet for a moment.

"You mean, as in we died in a rebellion?"

"Yeah!"

Zexion smirked, and Demyx noticed that the light from the next floor shone right through him, making him transparent. "You must have had a nightmare. Marluxia and the others haven't even moved in yet. Let us not rush these kinds of things…"

Demyx's mind blanked out for a second.

…_Huh? _

"Wh-Wha! But I…everyone…" the emerald-eyed teen blabbered.

"In case you are unaware of the time period, me and…I am preparing Castle Oblivion for Marluxia's arrival. And Le-"

Demyx paused and looked at him in confusion, slightly cocking his head to one side.

"Hmm?"

"Laexaus. Laexaus is here too. Somewhere…" Zexion finished, spitting out the words like they had lingered in his mouth far too long.

The Melodious Nocturne tensed. Laexaus too? Were all of the dead organization members haunting here? He half-expected a certain golden-haired female to pop out of nowhere, shock him for no apparent reason, and laugh haughtily before she slipped away.

"Uh…cool …" Demyx answered quietly, trailing the specter with lopsided hair as they entered the sixth floor. Only the blond's footsteps echoed the halls; Zexion was also walking, but his boots hovered just above the reflective floor.

The Melodious Nocturne knew he couldn't be crazy. Could he? No way! He knew that massacre happened, that all his colleagues had been felled when the Keyblader stepped into Castle Oblivion. There's no way he could've made up such a horrifying tale by himself. But Zexion didn't seem the least bit aware of what had transpired in those three months. Why was that?

"So…where are we going, Zexy?"

"To the lab," the ghostly Cloaked Schemer answered. "I have already cleaned out this area, and I feel like doing some experimenting before I leave."

"Uh, what about done below, though?" Demyx asked, referring to the flood on the lower level.

"You get to clean that up."

The mulleted blond sighed. He was afraid of that.

"..But you can join me and hope the floor dries out before Marluxia comes, if you want," Zexion added.

"Allright!"

The phantasmal teen sighed.

"But…won't Vexen be mad if you get to use the lab before he does?" the Melodious Nocturne questioned.

"…Why would Vexen care about a lab?"

Demyx cocked his head to one side. That was a strange question for Zexion to ask.

"Well, you know how Vexen is, always obsessing over experiments and stuff,' the emerald-eyed boy began. "A brand new lab that's never been experimented in is like a wet dream to him."

The phantom Cloaked Schemer turned his head to look at him, and for a moment confusion stormed his eyes. The moment soon passed, however, and Zexion's usual stoic expression returned, even if his purple eyes still swirled slightly restlessly.

"Oh yes," he murmured. "Well, it was not like I was going to leave the lab dirty when I left. As long as I clean up all of the residue, Vexen will be none the wiser about his precious new lab being soiled by previous use."

"Well…guess that could work …" Demyx replied, trying as hard as he could to not stare at, or though, Zexion's transparency. "So, what kinds of experiments are you planning to do?"

"Oh, the usual," the purple-haired phantom answered. "A few trials on the darkness of the heart, test the abilities of a few unusual lower Nobodies, finish that Heartless experiment that Axel decided to screw up for me…"

"Oh yeah, I remember that!" Demyx piped up, rushing up to the side of his see-through colleague. "But…wasn't it Luxord that went and messed it up?"

"Oh yes, it was,' Zexion quickly corrected himself. "But the point is that I can do these tests in peace without the chaos of what can only be called The Castle That Never Was. Unless you plan to meddle in them in their stead?"

"Oh, no! Of course not!" Demyx promptly reassured.

"Good."

The Melodious Nocturne fell silent after that. Zexion didn't seem to have the faintest clue that he was now only a wraith form, drifting the halls of a palace that had long since fallen. Not even his obvious gliding or transparency seemed to tip him off. Why didn't he realize it? Zexion should certainly be smart enough to figure out that being see-through meant that his body was gone…It didn't make sense.

Was he stuck in some kind of loop, doing the same thing over and over again for the past three months without realizing it? Demyx had heard that restless spirits often did that. But then why was he repeating this part of time? Ghosts usually repeat the time just before they die, and Zexion had been the last to fall. He'd seen Zexion at least twice after he and Laexaus had prepared the castle so Marluxia and the others could move in. That was a good few days before the rebellion began, before anyone starting falling to the Keyblader's weapon…

Demyx was surprised that he still hadn't seen any other colleague ghosts as of yet. Then again, they were probably hanging out in certain areas. Laexaus was out be weight training or moving boxes of supplies, Larxene was probably be in the library reading her ever-favorite book _Marquis de Sade_, and Marluxia might be somewhere on the top floor, trying to prevent Vexen from dragging one of his precious plants downstairs and-

_Hold on._

"Hey Zexy?"

"What is it?"

"Uh, if we're heading for the lab, why are we going upstairs?" Demyx asked. "I mean, isn't it in the basement?"

The purple-eyed specter stopped in his airy tracks, then rubbed the bridge of his nose and moaned.

"Yes, you are right…" Zexion finally spoke. "Let's go down."

The black-cloaked apparition began to glide the other way.

"…Zexy?"

"…What?"

"Can't we just teleport?"

The Cloaked Schemer sighed.

"Yes…I suppose that would be more efficient…"

Two _vrums_ sounded, leaving the sixth floor as silent and empty as a vacuum.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The lab they entered looked far from new. If Demyx had doubted himself about the past before, those doubts were washed away now. Though the equipment was fully sterilized, chemical stains on the walls and floors made it clear that Vexen had done many experiments in his short time here. Some slashes and scorch marks scattered throughout the lab were evidence of some of his more chaotic tests.

Zexion, however, seemed quite unaware of these signs of previous use. The Cloaked Schemer, in all his ghostly glory, glided over to one of the cabinets and began to gather chemicals for the preparation of his tests. While Demyx was beginning to get used to the idea of his colleague being transparent, it was still more than a little surreal being able to see what ingredients the purple-haired teen was collecting, despite that his back was turned to him the whole time. Im fact, he wondered just how Zexion was able to carry any of these things at all. Sure, he'd heard that ghosts often lifted objects despite their lack of substance, but it still confused him.

The Melodious Nocturne felt a faint rumbling in his stomach.

"Uh, is there anything to eat here?" he asked.

"Organization members are going to start living here; of course there is something to eat," Zexion stated flatly, now setting up his experiments. "There should be something in the storage room refrigerator. I imagine there is enough in there to satisfy even your appalling appetite, Axel."

"Thanks Ze-" Demyx began, before the specter's answer had fully registered in his mind. "_Axel?_ Dude, do I _look_ like I have bright red hedgehog hair?"

The diaphanous one paused for a moment, then closed his eyes and began to rub the bridge of his nose again.

"No…no, you do not…"

"Then why'd you call me that?" The Melodious Nocturne questioned, moving closer to the purple-haired phantasm.

"I do not know…just…got confused for a minute…"

An unsettled silence filled the laboratory.

"Wait…you do know who I am, right?" the emerald-eyed boy questioned nervously. "Zex, what's my name?"

The Cloaked Schemer held his forehead.

"Deh...Demo…Demer…"

"Demyx," the blond finished for him.

"…Yes…" Zexion responded quietly, letting out a sigh. "That is right…Demyx…"

"Zex, what's wrong with you!" Demyx asked the ghostly Cloaked Schemer, looking very worried indeed. "I mean, besides that-"

"I AM NOT DEAD!" Zexion snarled at him, spinning around. His form flickered slightly, and some areas of him swirled like the film on a bubble.

"Zex…"

"What makes you think I am dead anyway? Be quiet…" the phantom rambled on, parts of him still warping and becoming even more transparent. "Preposterous…"

"Zexy, you're _see-through_," Demyx replied loudly, attempting to poke his shoulder but going right through it instead.

"Do not touch me."

"C'MON Zexy," The Melodious Nocturne whined. "Why do you have to be so stubborn!" The blond would've considered getting the other members, but he knew they'd just laugh at his story. Besides, that might just encourage The Cloaked Schemer to be even more stubborn…

"Being stubborn is what keeps us alive," Zexion replied. "We all should have died a long time ago. Never forget that."

Demyx sighed. "Look Zex, three months ago, Marluxia rebelled against the Organization. He tried to use The Keyblade Master to attack us. But the kid turned on them, and killed everyone but Axel, who escaped. You were the last to be killed by him."

"No…that is not right…" Zexion muttered, looking at the ground, his image flickering a couple more times.

"Zex, it-"

"It was not him."

"Huh?"

The phantasmal figure was rubbing his temples again, a look of frustration on his face.

"It was not The Keyblade Master….that experiment of Vexen's…it turned on me," The Cloaked Schemer mumbled. "No…it did not turn on me ….it was let loose on me."

"Wait, are you saying one of us killed you!" exclaimed the Melodious Nocturne.

'Why do you act surprised?" the purple-haired specter asked dryly, more filmy swirls disrupting his appearance. "Much backstabbing occurs in a rebellion. Now who was it….Marluxia? No…Larxene…that is not right…Axel? Vexen?...no, that does not make sense…no motive…and neither does Laexaus…"

"…Were they in the shadows or something?" Demyx asked. "…So you couldn't see who it was?"

"No! They were right in front of me!" Zexion snapped, his form flickering once again. In addition to the warping in his form, pale blackness materialized inside him, mixing with the swirling spots. "They stood there as clear as day but…dammit, dammit…."

He lowered his arms, fists balled up tightly.

"Pathetic…cannot remember a damn thing anymore…cannot even keep the names straight…"

"Did the experiment screw up your memory or something?" asked the blond.

"…No, Demyx," Zexion replied. "Being dead screws with your memory."

"How come?"

The ghostly Cloaked Schemer sighed, the faint darkness sliding just beneath his form like an obsidian wind.

"When one of us dies, we are supposed to fade into the darkness, be consumed by it. But, if your will is strong enough, you can cheat death once more. Your body will be lost, but your soul can still be saved. That's why I am still here, because I was not ready to be absorbed back into the blackness…"

"Way to go, Zexy!" Demyx cheered. "If anyone can beat death, it's-"

"But it was not enough!" Zexion swiftly snapped back, transparent shadows spinning rapidly inside his figure for a few moments. "A soul alone is far more unstable than one would think. Having the body provides support, shelter for the soul. Without this shield, the soul is vulnerable to certain outside forces, threatening to tear it apart. This is the situation I now find myself in. As you can see, what is left of my physical form is disintegrating, barely able to maintain a proper image. My mind, meanwhile, is already being plunged into shadows, making truth and lies look one and the same. You have already seen what it has done to my memory. It is destroying my sense of self. Before, the world existed, and I did not. Now, I am not sure if anything is real at all..."

"Oh, you're just thinking too much, Zexy," Demyx spoke up, smiling. "I'm sure it's not that bad. You're just still adjusting to your ghostliness, that's-"

"YOU DO NOT GET IT!" Zexion yelled, causing the Melodious Nocturne to shrink back in shock and fear. "I have been trying to stop myself from fading into oblivion, but I have only been falling apart, piece by piece. My memories…they are breaking, fading, twisting themselves into something they are not. I cannot tell what parts of my past actually happened or are the result of my mind's decay. It has been getting hard even to think…It does not matter what I do. No matter where I turn, I only find the abyss!"

His arm swung wildly as he screamed this, and he seemed to possessed enough solid form to knock over some test tubes and send them crashing to the floor.

Demyx had never seen him like this before. Not Zexion. Sure, he had his moody moments, his occasional fits of absolute rage, his "You-Look-At-Me-And-You-Die" days, but nothing like this. Not with his whole being quaking, brimming with frustration, with anxiety, with fear.

Scared. He was scared. But Zexion wasn't supposed to get scared. Zexion plotted things, whether it be a way to gather hearts for the members' ultimate restoration, or a plan to make Axel look positively stupid in front of Larxene. If a plan didn't work, though they almost always, he might be disappointed or angry or annoyed, but nothing more. He never freaked out over them.

But there he was, The Cloaked Schemer, quivering like a flame on a gusty night, looking downright petrified.

"There is nowhere…" the purple-haired phantom moaned to himself, sinking to his knees. "There is nowhere to go, nowhere, where I won't just fall into ruin…"

For moments far too long, silence reigned. Demyx stared at Zexion's fallen form, tendrils of darkness writhing inside the flickering specter, and his own emerald eyes overflowing with shock and disbelief.

"Zex…" he began. "…This isn't like you at all. I mean, you're usually so cool and stuff, and now you're all down in the dumps. It just isn't right. C'mon, pull yourself together."

"Why do you care?" asked the shade-stained phantom, his gaze remaining on the ground. "The Zexion you knew is no more. What you see here is merely his pale shadow."

"No, you're wrong!" Demyx insisted. "You…you might not be all here anymore, but you're still Zex!"

"…If you prefer to think that way, I will not stop you," the Cloaked Schemer spoke. "…But it will not change anything."

"Zex, snap out of it!" the blond pleaded. "I know it must suck being a ghost and all, but being all depressed and stuff isn't gonna make things any better, right?"

"Then what do you suggest I do then?" Zexion growled, the shadows lurking inside him swirling slightly faster as he glared at the Melodious Nocturne.

"Uh…" Demyx trailed off, looking up at the ceiling. "Hey, why don't we go outside? It's all stuffy in here. Maybe the fresh air will help us think better."

Zexion remained silent as he got up.

"It does not matter to me."

"Then let's go!" Demyx announced, suddenly tugging on the sleeve of Zexion's black cloak and enwrapping them both in a dark shell of teleportation.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

It was raining, of course. No, not raining. Pouring. Pouring sheets and sheets and sheets of rain. There was so much water being dumped down from the skies that the ground had been turned into brown mush, and the endless grasses were collapsing from the weight of the liquid.

But this didn't bother Demyx one bit. As far as the Melodious Nocturne was concerned, it was like walking into a water-work dance-floor. He laughed as he scooted across the dark muck, reveling in the rain that rolled down his face and streaked across in his blonde hair. It didn't matter to him that he could hardly see a thing through the torrent. It was water, and that was enough to content any water-wielder.

"See, Zex? It's so much better out here than it is in that dull old castle!" Demyx chirped.

"..What is better is all a matter of perspective of the viewer," Zexion replied, studying the rainstorm pummeling the area. He held out on of his transparent gloved hands, lifted his head up to the stormy skies, and seemed slightly disappointed that he wasn't getting the least bit wet in this maelstrom. Just slightly.

"Hey Zex?"

"What?"

"You know, if you just really miserable and falling apart and stuff, why don't you just move on, go onto the next world, or whatever?" Demyx asked, hands behind his head and sliding backwards across the soggy mire.

Zexion looked off into the tempestuous distance.

"I may be disintegrating, but I still have my pride. I am not going to just surrender to fate and allow myself to fade away, to give up what is left of my identity. No, I am not ready to rest, to lose all thought, to disband my individuality to the void just yet."

"…Uh, okay, guess that makes sense…" Demyx trailed off, absentmindedly enchanting the falling raindrops to swirl around him. "But what are you gonna do while you're still here?"

"Oh, experimenting, puzzles, that sort of thing," the shadow-stained phantom replied, his gaze fixed on the turbulent horizon. "That, and writing down what I remember. Then again, at this point what I remember would not make sense at all, only revealing my disintegration to the other members, so it might not be worth trying to record…"

"Well, maybe I could help you remember and stuff," the blond offered, slipping across the flooded field, the lengthy grass stroking his black trenchcoat as he passed. "Then whenever you have trouble remembering something, you can just look it up. Maybe even put in some pictures!'

"And those times you were not present?"

"I could tell you what I know about it," Demyx responded. "Hey, it'd be better than nothing."

"…I suppose that is true..." the purple-haired phantom answered quietly, the faint darkness twisting inside of him not looking so faint anymore.

Demyx paused.

"Zex…how bad is it gonna get?"

The Cloaked Schemer remained silent for a moment.

"I cannot say, but…"

For a while Demyx said nothing.

"Look, Zex I know you're trying to be strong, but…it's really hard to see you like this. And if it's only gonna get worse…I don't want you to turn into some mindless zombie that'll eat my brains or something…Dude, I bet that's why there are all those ghosts that are all evil and soul-sucking and stuff! They're all confused and paranoid, so they attack everybody because they can't tell who's good or bad. And those ghosts end up like that for eternity…Zex, I don't want you to end up like that. Dude, if that's what eternity means, it's not worth it. It'd be better if you just left this world…even if the darkness eats you up, at least it would be faster than just waiting things out here."

As the downpour let up slightly, The Cloaked Schemer turned his head to look at The Melodious Nocturne.

"Perhaps."

"Besides," the blond continued. "Who says there's nothing but doom waiting for you on the other side? Yeah, you might forget everything, but maybe that's so you can start over again, be reborn, be Somebody again! I mean, if we remembered everyone we've ever been, it'd get pretty confusing. So we have to forget so we can fully enjoy the next life, right?"

"…Do you really believe in reincarnation?" asked the purple-haired phantom, a skeptical look in his eyes, the shadows inside of him almost brilliant black. The rain was no longer the raging storm it had been.

"Well, sure!" Demyx chirped. "I mean, everything's got to go somewhere, right? Nothing ever completely disappears. Isn't that a science law or something?"

"Every time a substance reaches its half-life, half of it has decomposed," the shadow-stained ghost recited automatically, his eyes closed and his arms folded. "But the mass is only divided by half, and therefore can never reach zero. Thus it goes on forever, incessantly making itself smaller and smaller, but it can never completely erase itself."

"Yeah, that one!"

The last of the rain, which had faded into a drizzle, now died away, and a gentle wind flowed across the sodden field. Both the Cloaked Schemer and the Melodious Nocturne turned their gazes upward as the dark silver clouds drifted away to reveal a shadow-sapphire sky dusted with diamond stars.

"Dude, look at that!" the emerald-eyed teen exclaimed. "Wow, I didn't know there were that many stars left! So many stars, so many places left to see, huh Zexy?"

Silence.

"Zexy?"

The blond turned around to look at the purple-eyed specter.

Zexion's eyes had closed, a calm expression on his face. His ghostly form was aglow with green and violet light, pieces of him unraveling and slipping off him like liquid crystal ribbons. Any shadows that had lurked inside him before were now disbanded by the illumination. The radiant fragments swirled around him in a wider and wider radius, seeming reluctant to leave just yet.

"Zex!"

"Calm down," the dissolving Cloaked Schemer spoke, his voice faint and full of echoes. "This is what you wanted, for me to go in peace, right? Well, that is what I am doing. I realize now that I am only wasting my time here. If I have a next life, it is time I let it begin."

"Zex…" Demyx trailed off, a cheerless look on his face. But he forced that cheerlessness away with a smile. "Well, good luck in your next life!"

Zexion nodded, and began to walk away with his back turned to Demyx, shining fragments loosely trailing behind him. As he meandered towards the horizon, he casually held up his hand without looking back.

"Goodbye, Demyx."

And, just like that, the form ruptured into so many shreds of light. For a moment they just linger right above the grasses, restlessly roaming the plains. Then, each on their own accord, they slowly drifted upwards, into the skies, into the heavens, into the stars.

Demyx watched as the fragments float away, one by one. One of the fragments passed near the emerald-eyed teen, and he tried to catch it in his hands, but it simply slipped right through them, unheeding of earthly boundaries.

As the last of the pieces hovered out of sight and out of reach, Demyx began to walk back to Castle Oblivion.

"See you later, Zexy."

_Well, there you go! I hope the rambling done in the latter bits make sense. _

_Hoped you liked it. Please feel free to tell me what you thought of it._

_Cya!_


End file.
